President Zoran Milanovic said during a visit to the eastern town of Našice on Sunday that as a citizen he would insist on accountability for every euro of EU funds available to Croatia but not taken.

Milanović visited the eastern town on the occasion of its day and the day of its patron saint, St. Anthony of Padua.

The president noted that he measured the performance of local government units only by how much EU funds they managed to absorb.

“As a citizen, I will insist on accountability for each euro not taken. Otherwise going to Brussels to listen to smart advice there makes no sense,” he said.

He noted that Nasice was a small, well-organised town.

“As such, it provides an excellent basis for a good, comfortable life,” he said, adding that Croatians would not die out as a nation even though such forecasts could often be heard.

“That won’t happen. Do we have reason to worry? We do. Do we have a reason for action? Most certainly. Do we have reason to despair? No,” he said.

Mayor Kresimir Kasuga said that Našice today was a town of pleasant and quality living, where projects worth HRK 600 million, mostly financed with EU funds, were underway.